Spinnerette is the new band from Brody Dalle of The Distillers.  Together with Alain Johannes, Tony Bevilacqua (another Distillers member), and Jack Irons (formerly of Pearl Jam) they released their first full length album earlier this year after endlessly teasing us with EPs.

 

Spinnerette’s eponymous album is one I was both looking forward to and at the same time dreading.  I knew they were experimenting with electronic sounds, which can sometimes work out amazing (Le Tigre) or horrible (The Gossip’s “Music For Men”).  I’d liked The Distillers and thought that Dalle had a lot of talent.  In fact The Distillers were one of the only modern “punk” bands I could stand.  So it was with much trepidation that I put this album on for a listen.

 

A few of these songs had already shown up on EP releases such as “Ghetto Love”, the album opener and “Sex Bomb”, which I’ve always been kinda disappointed wasn’t a cover of the Flipper song of the same name.

 

“Ghetto Love” definitely gives you a feel for the album.  It’s wonderfully produced and is a catchy, aggressive, rock and roll song.  “All Babes Are Wolves”, the next song, is perhaps even better, and definitely will remind you of The Distillers.  The aforementioned “Sex Bomb” is mildly disturbing with it’s chorus of “I want you to be my daddy”.  And “Driving Song” unfortunately, to me at least, doesn’t sound like a great song to drive to but the title does make sense.

 

There are some weak spots.  This isn’t an album that’s going to set the world on fire.  Lyrically speaking it’s not spectacular, but it’s better than a lot of other bands that would try this sound.  And speaking of the sound, it’s probably my favorite thing here.  It’s dirty, grungy, and sexy.  It’s not trying to be one genre or another, it’s just being what it is.  The electronics are mixed very well in with other things and really just give a slight background vibe. One of my favorite songs here is the closer “A Prescription For Mankind” which is just epic.

 

If you like your rock hard and rough then you’ll probably enjoy this.  If you liked The Distillers, it’s probably safe to say you’ll enjoy this as well, although it is quite different.  I think it’s probably worth checking out by anyone.  This is a solid rock album.  And hey look you can buy it right here: